On Friday, the horizon darkened further with the approval of reforms cutting annual state aid for renewable energies by more than 1 billion euros.

The change is enough to place at risk the huge strides made by the Spanish wind energy industry.

Spain ranks No. 4 globally in terms of installed wind energy, but has dropped to seventh place in terms of new projects, according to the Global Wind Energy Council.

“For Spain, wind energy has really been an energy revolution. In 20 years, we have gone from producing zero kilowatts to producing 20 percent of national demand today,” said Heikki Willstedt Mesa, director of energy policy at the Spanish Wind Energy Association.

In the fourth-largest economy of the eurozone, wind is often the main source of electricity.

“Unfortunately, since 2009 the government has slowed the development of wind energy in Spain with various regulatory measures,” he said.

The cutting of state aid by 35 percent, removal of subsidies for new turbines since the start of the year and the latest changes announced on Friday have hit the sector hit hard and manufacturers are the first to feel the pain.

In February, French group Alstom SA closed two factories in Spain and laid off 373 employees.

“The economic crisis and the absence of a stable regulatory framework have slowed domestic demand,” the group said, stressing the lack of activity in its Spanish sites.

Spain’s Gamesa, which is among the industry’s world leaders, gave the same reasons as it laid off 606 of its 4,800 staff in Spain and closed two blade factories in recent months.

Gamesa notably pointed to the “regulatory uncertainty,” the persistent economic crisis and financial problems in the sector, especially in southern Europe.

Making a wind turbine is almost a work of craftsmanship, Trapiella said.

“We are in more than 50 countries,” he said, citing Mexico, Brazil and India as key markets. “Even if our corporate headquarters are in Spain, the risk, our dependence on the Spanish market, is limited.”